Florida Law

MIAMI — The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida filed a lawsuit Thursday challenging a state law that limits how much minors may contribute to state and local political campaigns. The lawsuit filed in federal court in West Palm Beach contends the law is unconstitutional because it restricts free speech. The law allows Floridians under 17 to contribute $100 per candidate each election cycle. Adults 18 and above can contribute $500. "It's clear that this Florida law limits a citizen's access to political discourse based solely on age," said Howard Simon, ACLU of Florida executive director.

An assault of a Wilton Manors man that included rock throwing and a sexually biased slur was not a hate crime, police said. A hate-crime investigation was launched after the victim originally told police his attacker followed him home at about 12:30 a.m. Sept. 16, called him a name, threw a rock, hit him in the stomach and lobbed rocks at his home. The victim identified Tyler Ahmed as his assailant in a photo lineup and the 26-year-old Fort Lauderdale man was arrested on a felony battery charge.

When an angry motorist came rushing up to the window of his pickup truck Wednesday, Cleveland Murdock had a gun and Florida law to back him. The Broward Sheriff's Office said Thursday their case is closed in the road rage incident that left Patrick Lavoie, 33, dead in the middle of a residential street. Murdock acted in self-defense by shooting in the heart the man who approached him, investigators determined. Witnesses told investigators Lavoie jumped out of the Honda Civic his girlfriend was driving, upset that Murdock seemed to be tailgating the couple.

- The Boca Raton mayor said two of the city's beachside parking signs were missing the mark so badly in addressing drivers with disabled permits that she was looking into having them changed. And by late Wednesday, the city found a temporary fix by altering the signs. The signs previously had demanded that no drivers, including those who are disabled, "pay & park" for longer than an hour each day in a metered, circular parking area at Boca Raton 's South Beach Pavilion, 1 S. Ocean Blvd.

Barbara from North Lauderdale says her condo association bylaws conflict with Florida law regarding her rent to right. Who prevails, the state law or association? The way it is is supposed to work is that Florida law supersedes condo association bylaws and rules. In other words, your condo or homeowner association should not pass rules that conflict with state law. Community association rules may go beyond state law in some cases. For instance, when statutes say owners are entitled to a minimum 30-day notice prior to having to pay a fine, the association can pass a rule that says owners are entitled to more time, say 45 days.

Florida's alimony laws were written when women had little economic power, when divorce was uncommon, and cohabiting was scandalous. Those days are long gone, but the old-fashioned alimony laws — favoring permanent alimony, until death — linger on. Lives have been lost and families have been adversely affected for generations by such abusive orders. Current laws cause immense hardship for those who must support an ex-spouse until he dies or she dies. Too many alimony payers are forced into insolvency, bankruptcy, foreclosure, and often must repeatedly return to divorce court, when life circumstances change and they need to modify payments.

Melons and mannequins were the only things blown up during a fireworks safety demonstration by the Broward Sheriff's Office Monday, but officials warn it could be hands and homes if the public isn't careful this Fourth of July. The agency's Bomb Squad and the Florida Division of State Fire Marshal demonstrated how even ordinary hand sparklers could reach extreme temperatures. Experts also blasted entire melons with fireworks prohibited for use under Florida law, but typically sold around South Florida.

Hallie in Fort Lauderdale realizes lawmakers have passed a new set of condominium and homeowners association reforms, including tweaks to state insurance requirements. But she and others I hear from are confused about the big question: Is it still mandatory for each unit owner to carry personal HO-6 insurance policies? Yes. Even with the new changes, the requirement for an HO-6 policy for each condo unit owner remains under Florida law. The only new changes are that boards no longer have authority to purchase a policy on the behalf of a non-compliant owner and assess for costs later, as was previously allowed by law. Also, the recently passed SB 1196 removed the requirement that owners add the association as an additional insured and loss payee on their individual policies.

For nearly a century, the Florida League of Cities has worked tirelessly for our member cities, for locally elected leaders and for the local citizens they represent. During that time, we have steadfastly supported tough ethics standards, guidelines and laws for all of Florida's public officials. We believe in the unwavering concept of holding wrongdoers accountable, of ensuring full and appropriate transparency and honesty in government and we support giving the right enforcement agencies the tools they need to root out corruption and malfeasance.

Another day, another in the long line of rulings shattering Florida's same-sex marriage ban. But the decision in Palm Beach County Tuesday represented a smaller crack in that ban than previous ones. Frank Bangor and Jason Simpson were married in Delaware in 2013. Bangor died in March and left everything to his spouse, including property in Palm Beach County . Simpson argued that Florida's same-sex marriage ban is unconstitutional, and he should be allowed to serve as his deceased spouse's personal representative in Florida.

When my daughter was younger and we went to her pediatrician, the doctor asked me a couple of questions: Do you have any guns in the house? And, do you have a pool? My answers: No, and yes. As a pool owner, I wasn't offended that she asked. She asked about child-proofing measures and talked about the dangers of drowning. I told her that my daughter had swim lessons at an early age and that we took all appropriate measures and followed the law. I didn't regard this as harassment, or an invasion of privacy, but as a pertinent line of questioning that directly related to the health and welfare of my child.

Sophisticated South Florida may be a far cry from the hills of Appalachia, where generations of tax-dodging moonshiners have made the region famous for homemade hooch. But there it was in a Wilton Manors home: a real-life still, a jug of white lightning, and fixin's for producing even more, authorities said. There were even several cases of Mason jars, the traditional repository for illicit booze. In response to a tip, agents with the Florida Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco arrested Marek Christopher Amann, 32, and charged him with, among other counts, possession of more than a gallon of illegal liquor and possession of a still.

Now that a federal appeals court has upheld Florida's infamous "Docs vs. Glocks" law, which restricts physicians from questioning patients (or parents) about gun ownership, what's to stop other special interests from getting their own versions of this absurd law passed? Nothing – except decency and common sense. "I can't imagine our member companies would ever be opposed to having a pediatrician ask a parent if they had a swimming pool," Wendy Parker Barsell, executive director of the Florida Swimming Pool Association, told me Monday.

Is it illegal in Florida for kids to dress up as doctors and nurses for Halloween? Technically speaking, it is, argues the attorney for Boca Raton businessman Barry Nevins, who is battling a nearly 3-year-old felony charge of practicing medicine without a license. While the owner of Barry's Vitamins & Herbs insists he wasn't acting as a bogus doctor, the 73-year-old defendant also claims the law he's charged with breaking is unconstitutional. A state prosecutor blasted both defenses, in a pleading Thursday to Circuit Judge Karen Miller.

Charlie Crist's campaign for governor and the state Democratic Party have been going after Gov. Rick Scott for using uniformed police officers to boost his re-election image. The latest came Thursday, when a Broward Police union boss filed an elections complaint against the Republican governor. The move was announced by the Florida Democratic Party. The Democrats are emphasizing that the complaint was filed by a “retired Broward County law enforcement professional and former Marine” and downplaying Jeff Marano's role as president of the Broward chapter of the police union Police Benevolent Association.

Almost one month ago, Arizona's S.B. 1070 was set to go into effect. S.B. 1070 has become almost code for illegal immigration. However, after massive protests and numerous legal wranglings, a subdued bill became law after many key provisions were blocked by a federal judge. But was such controversy needed? Or do Arizona law enforcement officers already possess the powers to regulate illegal immigration? If applied as written, S.B. 1070 would have made it a separate criminal offense to be an unregistered immigrant in the state of Arizona.

Tax lien auctions are a little-known but juicy Florida financial market worth up to $1 billion a year. And, the Sun Sentinel has found, banks, hedge funds and other financial powerhouses have hit upon a way to game the system, squeeze out the little guy and gobble up most of the good deals. "I don't think it's fair; it's rigged," said Linda Kliston, of Plantation, a small-scale investor who, like many others in South Florida, finds she can no longer realistically compete. Big banks are widely blamed for sending America's real estate market and economy into a tailspin beginning in 2007, and then receiving billions of dollars in government bailout loans.

Since last year, Sunrise has been unable to enforce the "no smoking" signs in Sunrise parks. From 2002 to 2013, Sunrise had banned smoking in certain parts of the city's parks. Thanks to a 2012 Florida law, the city hasn't been able to enforce the ban since October, but since then they have been fighting the state law in the Florida legislature with the help of Florida House Representative Katie Edwards. "One of the issues [Sunrise] brought up was saying to the legislature, 'please allow us have some authority over regulation of smoking in our city parks,'" Edwards, who represents District 98, said to commissioners during a legislative update.

Board members and leaders of community associations can participate in two upcoming seminars sponsored by the Katzman Garfinkel law firm. On Friday July 11, board members will meet to brainstorm ideas and talk about issues facing associations. Hurricane preparations will be the topic on July 16. Each event is free and will be held from 11 a.m to 1 p.m. at the Katzman Garfinkel offices, 5297 W. Copans Road in Margate. Call 954-486-7774 to register.